Copper

Copper

Kazu Kibuishi

Fantastic Voyages of the Kid Kind

G

Copper is a visually stunning comic. Brightly colored and beautifully drawn in a cartoony style, Copper follows the adventures of the title character, Copper, and his dog Fred through a dream landscape. In the tradition of Little Nemo, Copper explores a world that he can only reach when he is asleep.

There is very little storyline in this comic, and each page is a minute story of discovery. There is a slight preachy air to the comic, usually along the lines of "enjoy every minute of life," but it doesn't taint the comic as a whole. Fred usually embodies the idea of missing out on the simple joys of life, but he faithfully follows Copper through his mental wildernesses.

My only complaint is that the artist updates far too infrequently. The updates are usually monthly, but it took over a year for the last update to be published. However, the artist has quite a few projects going on, including a number of print versions of Copper episodes, and a print comic called Amulet. If his online comic is any example of his work as a whole, I'll look into his print comics as well. Amulet certainly looks intriguing.

Roomies/Its Walky!/Joyce and Walky Three comics in One!

Roomies
Its Walky
Joyce and Walky
Sci-fi/Angst
PG-13

This trio of comics is actually one huge comic, renamed when the characters most focused on were flip-flopped. And if there was only one word that I could say to describe Its Walky, it would be ANGST.

OH the angst. Every character in this comic has an issue. Should I? issues, Should I have? issues, parental issues, sexual issues, growing up issues, dating issues. If you want issues and scenes where characters have brief soliloquies about there feelings, this is the comic for you! And all of these issues are twined about major alien and shady government issues.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The first third of this comic, Roomies, focuses on a couple of buddies (Joe and Danny) in college. There are no aliens (okay a few aliens, but not important to the over-all plot of Roomies), there is only normal college angst. Well, not too normal. I know that I've been through a few angsty times in college, but I don't know if I or any of my friends became as broody as these people. Roomies lasts for two years before shifting viewpoints to Its Walky.

Its Walky is much more up my alley. Aliens, secret government institutions, clones, and so on. There is still angst served in heaping portions, but the plot is more organized and the writing is much better than the Roomies stage. I can't really explain many of the story arcs because they are so twisty. In that respect, the comic reminds me of Sluggy Freelance (though I feel that Sluggy does a much better job at feeling "plausible", and is a better written comic). The comic often kept me guessing when I was still reading it on a regular basis. Finally, this portion of the comic has an actual ending, and one that would make most people happy.

Joyce and Walky I have not read. Unfortunately (for me) this portion of the comic is subscription only. I'm assuming that there is still angst, because without angst it wouldn't be the same comic.

The art of the comic, like most webcomics, has evolved over time. Really, the comic now looks nothing like it did in the beginning. This is always a good thing. The angst can sometimes be sickening, and I really don't recommend it to anyone who thinks a combonation of Dawson's Creek and Buffy at its most touchy-feely is a reason to run away screaming from the TV. But if you can wade through the self-pity, the story is not too bad.